Read More

However, Cowley says there should be no such repeat next month and would like to get the bulk of his business done between the New Year’s Day trip to Luton Town and home derby with Notts County on January 13.

The Imps will be without a game on January 6 as scheduled opponents, Mansfield Town, will now be in the FA Cup third round action instead.

The Imps will travel to Rochdale in the Checkatrade Trophy in the week commencing January 8 but there will be a near two-week gap between league games at the start of 2018.

Read More

Imps news

“We’re in a better position behind the scenes to be able to do the necessary negotiations with opposing clubs and players,” said Cowley. “We’ve got a better support network in place than we had in the summer. I definitely don’t want a repeat of the frustrations I endured on August 31.

“We want to be able to get players in at the beginning of January, particularly now as there’ll be a little break as we haven’t got a game against Mansfield on the 6th [of January].

“That will give us time to integrate and work with new players. That could be an invaluable period for us.

"But obviously football is a very reactive industry and things can change. Sometimes you have to wait for other things to happen."